Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

---

Surrogacy is an infertility treatment in which the sperm and egg of couples are mixed in vitro and then transferred to the womb of other woman to grow until the end of pregnancy, and this woman is called the surrogate mother. According to article 1168 of the Iranian civil law, children conceived through surrogacy must remain in custody of their parents like other children, and it is the right and responsibility of the parents to maintain their children. Now what will happen if the surrogate mother refuses to release the baby to his/her parents? Based on the various provisions of the civil law, criminal law and the civil liability act, on the one hand, the surrogate mother is obligated to deliver the baby to the couple, and on the other hand, she will be held liable for any damage or injury to the child should she choose to take custody of the child.

---

Cryopreserved embryos are considered as abandoned embryos in two situations. The first situation is when the embryo`s owners have no definite domicile and no written guideline has been provided by the couple regarding the embryo`s status. The second one is when the owners of cryopreserved embryos explicitly state that they permit the freezing centers to decide about their embryos` fate. The aim of the present study was to determine the best possible decisions about cryopreserved embryos in case of their abandonment by couples.

This research was conducted through library and analytical research methods.

As the cryopreservation of embryos is expensive, cryopreservation centers must be exempted from preserving embryos after unsuccessful attempts at communication with the owners and passing of reasonable time.

Making decisions about the fate of abandoned cryopreserved embryos depends on the nature we attribute to them. If we consider abandoned cryopreserved embryos as humans, it is possible to destroy them according to the rule that necessities allow prohibitions. If we consider them as properties or quasi-properties, when there is no accessibility to their owners in order to determine their fate as properties, the governor is permitted to make decisions about their disposal or donation for researches.